Diablo III, Xbox 360, 3DS rule game sales in May

Diablo III was the big winner in May 2012, as far as game sales go. Blizzard’s dungeon crawling, loot grinding PC title is the first of its kind to take the top spot in physical retail sales for a PC game since StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty did it back in 2010.

While other software like Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Max Payne 3, and Prototype 2 did well in May, hardware was a different story. A year over year decline for all consoles except Nintendo’s 3DS saw drops. As a whole, hardware sales fell 39%.

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have all responded to the drop off in hardware sales, you can find their statements below.

Microsoft

“Xbox 360 sold more units in May in the U.S. than any other console or handheld gaming device, maintaining its position as the best-selling console in the U.S. for the past 17 months. Last week at E3, Xbox detailed its mission to make the entertainment people love even more amazing. In addition to announcing a new lineup of games, Xbox introduced the next wave of entertainment partners coming to the platform and an entirely new experience with Xbox SmartGlass, enabling consumers to experience their favorite entertainment across the devices they love.”

Sony

“According to the May NPD report, exclusive PlayStation 3 titles again posted strong results with MLB12: The Show and Starhawk. PlayStation also continues to experience accelerated digital sales growth for the PS3 and PS Vita platforms. As demonstrated at E3 last week, our commitment to gamers is stronger than ever with upcoming 2013 PS3 exclusive titles, including Beyond: Two Souls, God of War: Ascension and The Last of Us, as well as PS Vita titles PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation which will continue PlayStation’s momentum into the new year.”

Nintendo

“In May, Nintendo sold more than 285,000 units of portable and console hardware. At the E3 Expo in Los Angeles last week, Nintendo revealed a massive slate of first- and third-party games on the way for Nintendo 3DS and the upcoming Wii U console. Further details about Nintendo’s E3 announcements can be found here: http://e3.nintendo.com. We’re looking forward to a strong second half of 2012..”